Nurses plan protests against CDC safety protocols

The hospital health care workers most at risk for contracting Ebola don't think much of the CDC's mandatory safety protocols. Nurses are planning protests next month to get the CDC to mandate better safety equipment for hospitals.

National Nurses United (NNU) announced it will hold events in at least 13 states and the District of Columbia to call attention to the issue.

The group has been one of the most vocal critics of the federal response to Ebola, arguing the best way to prepare for a pandemic would be to impose new training and protection requirements for healthcare workers.

"With the refusal of hospitals across the country to take seriously the need to establish the highest safety precautions for when an Ebola patient walks in the door, and the failure of our elected leaders in Washington to compel them to do so, America’s nurses say they have to make their voices heard a little louder," NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro said in a statement.

NNU joined the debate over Ebola protections for healthcare workers as the first victim diagnosed in the U.S. — Thomas Eric Duncan — received care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. Duncan ultimately died, but not before the Ebola virus passed to two nurses who have since recovered.

The union, which does not represent nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian but has spoken on their behalf, said the two women contracted Ebola due to poor direction from the hospital and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The day of action, scheduled for Nov. 12, is intended to keep the debate in headlines as attention shifts to enforced quarantine orders for healthcare workers returning from West Africa.

And we're supposed to feel comfortable with CDC protocols when nurses are worried about them? The administration treats us like children who should just sit down, shut up, and do as we're told. The adults have a handle on the situation, they say, and since we don't know what we're talking about, we should get out of the way and let them be.

Except the US army has made a decision to quarantine all soldiers returning from Ebola hotspots. Other medical professionals whose checks aren't signed by Uncle Sam dispute some the CDC's information (they just revised their website information on how you can contract Ebola by adding that it can be spread by sneezing)..

The truth is, they don't have a good handle on the situation and the nurses know this. We've been incredibly fortunate not to have a more serious Ebola problem given the incompetence being demonstrated in Washington.

The hospital health care workers most at risk for contracting Ebola don't think much of the CDC's mandatory safety protocols. Nurses are planning protests next month to get the CDC to mandate better safety equipment for hospitals.

National Nurses United (NNU) announced it will hold events in at least 13 states and the District of Columbia to call attention to the issue.

The group has been one of the most vocal critics of the federal response to Ebola, arguing the best way to prepare for a pandemic would be to impose new training and protection requirements for healthcare workers.

"With the refusal of hospitals across the country to take seriously the need to establish the highest safety precautions for when an Ebola patient walks in the door, and the failure of our elected leaders in Washington to compel them to do so, America’s nurses say they have to make their voices heard a little louder," NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro said in a statement.

NNU joined the debate over Ebola protections for healthcare workers as the first victim diagnosed in the U.S. — Thomas Eric Duncan — received care at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. Duncan ultimately died, but not before the Ebola virus passed to two nurses who have since recovered.

The union, which does not represent nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian but has spoken on their behalf, said the two women contracted Ebola due to poor direction from the hospital and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The day of action, scheduled for Nov. 12, is intended to keep the debate in headlines as attention shifts to enforced quarantine orders for healthcare workers returning from West Africa.

And we're supposed to feel comfortable with CDC protocols when nurses are worried about them? The administration treats us like children who should just sit down, shut up, and do as we're told. The adults have a handle on the situation, they say, and since we don't know what we're talking about, we should get out of the way and let them be.

Except the US army has made a decision to quarantine all soldiers returning from Ebola hotspots. Other medical professionals whose checks aren't signed by Uncle Sam dispute some the CDC's information (they just revised their website information on how you can contract Ebola by adding that it can be spread by sneezing)..

The truth is, they don't have a good handle on the situation and the nurses know this. We've been incredibly fortunate not to have a more serious Ebola problem given the incompetence being demonstrated in Washington.